St. Louis Is Joining the MLS, Weekly Soccer Marketing News

It's official: St Louis is joining the MLS. Here you'll find a weekly summary of the most exciting news in soccer marketing. If you're trying to keep up, consider this your one-stop-shop.

On Tuesday, the MLS announced that St Louis had been awarded as the league’s expansion team. With Betz and six other female members of the Taylor family part of the ownership group, St Louis becomes the first female majority-owned club in MLS history and one of few in professional sports.

The club will begin MLS play in 2022, in a brand new stadium located in the Downtown West district of St Louis.

“Our ownership group has come a long way since we first announced our bid last October at Mathews-Dickey Boys and Girls Club, and it’s an incredible feeling to now be able to say, St Louis is home to the first official majority female-led ownership group in MLS,” said Carolyn Kindle Betz. “Our MLS team and stadium will only add to St Louis’ renaissance currently underway and will provide us with a great opportunity to bring together many different segments of the community, uniting people in their love for the game.”

MLS

MLS expansion club Austin FC adopted VR technology. The technology will drive season ticket sales at their new US$200 million stadium ahead of their inaugural season in 2021. The strategy is part of a new multi-year partnership with US mobile ticketing platform SeatGeek.

David Beckham’s Inter Miami announced Heineken as its first founding partner. The long-term deal will see Heineken serve as the official beer partner of Inter Miami. The deal also secures signage, intellectual property rights, and retail activations.

Broadcasting

ESPN signed an exclusive agreement with theNational Women’s Soccer League locking worldwide rights (excluding U.S.) to the league’s regular-season and playoff matches. ESPN already held the rights to NWSL broadcasts in the US. “This is an important step for NWSL to strengthen the league’s reach through ESPN’s international network,” said NWSL President Amanda Duffy.

LaLiga extended its partnership with beIN Media Group, that will see beIN SPORTS USA and Canada exclusively broadcast LaLiga until 2024. The new agreement comes just days before the start of a 2019-20 season.

US Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro said the country is planning a bid to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup. Cordeiro’s comments came during a conference call with reporters. During the call he announced Kate Markgraf as the new general manager of the US Women’s National Team (USWNT).

ESPN got the exclusive broadcasting rights in South America for the next three seasons of Premier League. The deal covers Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Branding

Adidas locked a deal with DAZN to advertise across the platform’s live Premier League soccer rights in Canada. This marks the first brand to run adverts DAZN. Also it's the first time that Adidas has advertised on a streaming provider in North America.

Ximena Cassab @xcassab

Ximena is a Swiss-Mexican journalist based in Mexico City where she specialized in business, and travel topics. Graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), she has worked as an editor at the magazines Expansión , Aire and Accent, from Expansion Group. Currently she is working with different media in Spanish and English independently. She is a passionate traveler who does not miss the opportunity to see a new place in the world.

Two years ago, the large-format retail store chain Curacao, headquartered in Los Angeles, began to send out automated emails based on customers’ interactions on Curacao’s website. The results have proven impressive, and Curacao plans to roll out new features offered by its automated emailing tool in the coming months.